I'd like to install orange on a windows machine containing python 2.4.1. The custom installer seems to work only with python 2.3 installed. Any way to install orange on winidows without needing to install python 2.3 as well?Thanks.

For a temporary solution, download the following binaries that are linked against Python 2.4: http://www.ailab.si/orange/download/orange_win_py24.zip. Also download the source distribution (any should do), unzip it into c:\Python24\lib\site-packages. Check that, for instance, orngTree.py is in c:\Python24\lib\site-packages\orange. Put the binaries into that same directory. Add the directory to Python library path (the simplest way is to add c:\python24\lib\site-packages\orange to the environment variable PYTHONPATH).

If you already have Orange for Python 2.3 installed, you can copy it from there to the equivalent Python 2.4's directory and unzip the binaries from the above archive over the old ones. And you'll have to fix the path.

After you do any of the above, run Python and try to import orange. If it doesn't find it, check the path (import sys; print sys.path)

Why all that hassle, why don't we fully support Python 2.4? The reason is that Orange Canvas uses some libraries that still haven't been ported to 2.4, so we cannot use that part or Orange with 2.4.

The above patch will only let you run scripts, but not the graphical stuff. Scripts should work OK - please tell me if they don't.

Regarding porting Orange to 2.4 yourselves: I wrote some instructions for compiling Orange long ago, but I have to update them, there are some missing steps. But you don't need it for now, anyway.

Why all that hassle, why don't we fully support Python 2.4? The reason is that Orange Canvas uses some libraries that still haven't been ported to 2.4, so we cannot use that part or Orange with 2.4.

Is this still true? Exactly what libraries have not been ported?

Python 2.5 is now in the works and this very fine product won't be so fine if it doesn't try to keep up with the Python released versions. At some point, 2.5 will be released and this will still be only fully available for 2.3.

We're waiting for Riverbank's port of PyQt. Judging by their changelog they are working intensively on it -- the release was planned for the end of the year, so we hope it would be out soon. Since the Qt they are about to support is the newly released QPL version 4.0, not the old non-commercial 2.3 any more, we'll surely jump for it as soon as something stable comes out.